Berea College

Can readers escape the end of the world? Join National Book Award–honored authors Julia Phillips (Disappearing Earth, 2019 Fiction finalist) and Jackie Wang (The Sunflower Cast a Spell to Save Us from the Void, 2021 Poetry finalist) for readings and conversation on writing the environment of place and people in the 21st century. The free event takes place on Tuesday, April 12, at 6 p.m. in the Berea College Alumni Building’s Baird Lounge. Refreshments will be available. Masks are required. To bring cutting-edge authors to Appalachian Kentucky, the National Book Foundation’s public programming arm, NBF Presents, arranged these authors’ visits in partnership with Berea College and Appalshop (Letcher County). Chris Green, director of the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center at Berea College, shared, “Writers and their audiences are always discovering who, where and how they are. And it’s these conversations, like the one we’re fortunate to host on April 12, that bring us together and forward.” Using a multi-year, $900,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the National Book Foundation has expanded its education and public programming to 40 states and counting through in-person programs and free online events worldwide. “This season, we will continue to connect writers and readers with the aim of sparking community conversations and fostering a shared love of literature,” said Ruth Dickey, executive director of the National Book Foundation. This season of NBF Presents, with 23 authors in 12 states, highlights the National Book Foundation’s continued commitment to providing readers everywhere access to engaging literary conversations. Most events, including the hybrid one at Berea, are live-streaming.&nbsp; NBF Presents calendar is available at the Foundation’s website. These are free events but please RSVP directly at the Foundation or partner website as directed. Berea College is home to a strong creative writing program with authors Silas House (NEH chair of Appalachian Studies); Jason Howard (editor of the Appalachian Review); and Ansel Elkins, (author of the Blue Yodel) visiting assistant professor of Creative Writing at Berea College. Elkins will be moderating the event. “One of the joys of Berea College is our deep commitment to a living literature by the people, of the people and for the people,” Green said. “At Berea, ‘people’ means everyone. As our college motto states, ‘God has made of one blood all peoples of the earth.’”

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National Book Foundation Authors Present “The Environment of Now” at Berea College

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Súle Greg Wilson, founding member of Carolina Chocolate Drops, will perform at Ballad Night at Berea College on Friday, April 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Gray Auditorium, Presser Hall. The evening is hosted by the Berea College Folk-Roots Ensemble. Wilson will present a 30-minute set of African American ballads which will be followed by a ballad round robin. The performance is free and open to the public. All audience members must be masked as per college policy due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. With more than 50 years serving as a community musician, intercultural healer and storyteller, Wilson mines tradition for the power and wisdom within. He has shared at bembés, block parties, boardrooms, ceildhs, festivals, horas, jooks, shouts and symposia. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., with university time in Ohio and New York City, Súle received his master’s in history/archival management from New York University, served as director for the Smithsonian Institution’s Afro-American Index Project (precursor to the National Museum of African American History and Culture), from 1991 to 1994, and co-led the 2005 historic Black Banjo Gathering. Wilson has careered as an archivist (New York Stock Exchange, Schomburg Center, World Bank, Pueblo Grande Museum) and an educator (New York, Phoenix, Tempe Public Schools; Maricopa County Community Colleges; Arizona State University). Wilson’s work as a composer, writer and performing artist has graced stage and screen, print and the street, taking him from Antrim to Kumasi, Newport to Bahia, Juneau to Hermosillo. He has produced numerous folk and world albums, and his award-winning book, “The Drummer’s Path: Moving the Spirit with Ritual and Traditional Drumming,” is an international standard in the field. <a href="https://livestream.com/bereacollege/balladnight">The event will also be livestreamed here</a>.

Founding Member of Carolina Chocolate Drops, Sule Greg Wilson, to Perform at Berea College